The New Thrift

Aren’t the 30% patriots? They’re keeping the economy afloat.

Not to be the killjoy here, but the actual question was: In the past year, have you made cutbacks in your day-to-day spending on luxury items ***OR*** necessities.

Responses:
40% — yes, luxury items
10% — yes, necessities
31% — yes, both
19% — no, neither

So it isn’t that only 40% are cutting back on luxuries… it’s actually 71%…. (those who said yes to luxuries and those who said yes to both).

They are rich bi*ch.

realty: that makes way more sense. will update post. also will quit reading poll stories while i’m on vacation.

Of course poll respondents often don’t consider all their choices carefully. Are we really to believe that 10% of Americans have cut down on necessities but are still spending as much on luxuries?

We can also assume that the 10% shown as giving up necessities were not buying luxuries at all, hence could not give up buying luxuries. That then brings the total to 81%.

As long as we’re talking economy I just want to bring up a point.
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One of arguments one hears a lot is how holding down Capital Gains taxes is important to spur investment and thus create jobs. However I can’t help but recall that when I was working for a large corporate owned manufacturing company absolutely EVERY capital expenditure had to justified on one and only one criterion. How many production jobs would it eliminate and therefore how many years would it take to pay for itself in lower labor costs?

Gotta love the ultra liberal KT..I don’t even think she denies she is pro Obamessiah..at least I apreciate honesty…The Obamaessiah will pay pay my kids tuition……duhhhh

I think the biggest problem with individual finances in this country is people living their lives on credit constantly.
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And come on chips, how is KT ultra-liberal? Because she reported poll numbers? I find her to be very even, if only more journalists were this way.

ilikechips:
“I don’t even think she denies she is pro Obamessiah”
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Didn’t you hear what Rush Limbaugh said?
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He told Micheal Steele that he’s the messiah.
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You are about three weeks off and 7928 miles wide of reality…
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“The Obamaessiah will pay pay my kids tuition”
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Lets see:
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Do I take advantage of this to educate my kids, or,
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Do I stupidly cling to an irrelevant and non-reality-based ideology and pass up the opportunity to give my kids a leg up in the competition?
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“Jeopardy.wav”
“Jeopardy.wav”
“Jeopardy.wav”

people living their lives on credit constantly.
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http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2008/10/paying-piper
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Consumers overrelying on credit is directly related to manufacturers squeezing their labor force.

Media Matter is just SO irresponsible.
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http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904060004?show=1

To add to sg’s link:
http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904030025?show=1
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The fact is, the shooting in Binghamton is the third killing spree this week. Nearly 30 Americans have been shot dead from mass murder rampages in the last six days. But the press pretends each bloody incident is completely isolated. They’re not. There have been at least two dozen mass murders in the last 25 months.

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As dear departed HH might have said, why do you refuse to connect the dots?

Want to see what a guilty conscious looks like?
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http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200904060022?show=1

also will quit reading poll stories while i’m on vacation.
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I missed that earlier. I’ll calm down.

Sorry but I gotta get one more in
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http://www.adl.org/learn/extremism_in_the_news/White_Supremacy/poplawski+report.htm?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_the_News
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This last comment was a reference to popular right-wing conspiracy theories about Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-constructed prisons and concentration camps for U.S. citizens. Such conspiracy theories had long been staples of the militia movement, but received a reinvigorating shot in the arm following the election of Barack Obama as president. Almost overnight, right-wing conspiracists across the country revived all of their 1990s militia conspiracy theories about the “New World Order,” planned gun confiscations, and government plots against the citizenry. Once more, wild speculations about SHTF (“s–t hits the fan”) and TEOTWAKI (“the end of the world as we know it”) scenarios became rampant.
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Poplawski bought into the SHTF/TEOTWAKI conspiracy theories hook, line and sinker, even posting a link to Stormfront of a YouTube video featuring talk show host Glenn Beck talking about FEMA camps with Congressman Ron Paul. When the city of Pittsburgh got a Homeland Security grant to add surveillance cameras to protect downtown bridges, Poplawski told Stormfronters that it was “ramping up the police state.” He said, too, that he gave warnings to grocery store customers he encountered (but only if they were white) to stock up on canned goods and other long-lasting foods.

As dear departed HH might have said, why do you refuse to connect the dots?
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Heh, I miss that guy and his unyielding displeasure for the “Time-Warner Moloch”.

This is an interesting question
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“Mr. Obama’s push to increase income taxes on people making over $250,000 a year was supported by 74 percent of respondents. When presented with the possibility that taxing those in the higher income bracket might hurt the economy, 39 percent of those polled still backed the plan.”
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I wonder if there was a poll before the Iraq war that asked if people favored invading Iraq, with the follow up asking if people still favored the war if it was possible that it would cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars?
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Then again, I guess the question could be turned around. If increasing taxes on the wealthy improved the economy would you still favor it? After all, if it is fair to ask about the negative consequences of Obama’s policies then isn’t it fair to ask about potential positive consequences?

Yet not one of these folks are blaming Obama for the economy.

http://www.political-buzz.com/

Connecting the dots.
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possibility that taxing those in the higher income bracket might hurt the economy…….absolutely EVERY capital expenditure had to justified on …….. How many production jobs would it eliminate.
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We’ve already tried the experiment. We’ve collected the data. It didn’t work out.

Your article hits right at the heart of our economic recovery. The attitude of consumers will drive the future. ………….

http://thefiresidepost.com/2009/04/07/does-our-economi-attitude-matter-a-hole-in-the-bucket/

KT is ultra liberal? Please! I think KT is firmly in the moderate camp. I don’t recall seeing any position she has taken or written about that strays too far from the center. Of course if you’re so far to the right that there isn’t any room left to go even further, KT might seem ultra liberal. As far as credit card debt goes, my wife and I believe that if we can’t pay cash for it…we can’t afford it. Zero credit card debt in this house.

sgwhiteinfla-Fox News was doing a report on the number of murder-suicides over the last 30 days and the number was like 52 or 53. Take each one and report on it has a one day isolated event and come up with a pat easy to understand reason to why he or she did it and its very easy in my opinion to miss the bigger story that is occurring here. At least until its too late.
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Because of the economy these are very shakey times for a lot of people. Even people with jobs, a roof over their heads, food on the table and health care are not so sure any more if those very important items are going to be there for them when the sun rises tomorrow. I know I’m not.